Through the Children's Gate Secret Essay

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 614 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1

Page 1 of 2

Adam Gopnik's Through the Children's Gate: A Home in New York recounts the author's return to New York City after years of living in Paris. The book contains Gopnik's quirky observations of everyday life in New York, including its architecture. The title refers to the children's gate of Central Park but also to how Gopnik is seeing the city anew through the eyes of his children. The extent to which being a New Yorker is hard-wired into your DNA from birth is dramatically illustrated through Gopnik's children Olivia and Luke. Yet Gopnik also suggests that to be a New Yorker is to be a perpetual child, always in love with the size and the wonder of the city.

In one essay entitled "Bumping into Mr. Ravioli," Gopnik details how even children in New York are so over-scheduled that his daughter's imaginary friend seldom has time to play with her. Charley Ravioli barely has time to talk to Olivia on the phone.

Stuck Writing Your "Through the Children's Gate Secret" Essay?

View All Our Example Through the Children's Gate Secret Essay

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

"He canceled lunch -- again," she sighs (Gopnik 157). Olivia's personality highlights many of the paradoxes of New York City childhood. On one hand, Olivia has a precociously large vocabulary (at least in Gopnik's presentation of her) and seems very sophisticated in her expression of her wants and needs. On the other hand, the drama that ensues over the death of a pet store fish has an absurdly heightened and tragic nature. While this is the humor of the piece, it also highlights the degree to which New Yorkers are insulated from 'natural' things like grass, dogs, and larger animals, except in the narrow confines of areas like Central Park.

This combination of world-weariness and awe is also seen in Gopnik's presentation of the city itself. "I can walk if I want to the Guggenheim if I want to, these days, but in my mind it….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Through The Children's Gate Secret" (2012, December 11) Retrieved June 5, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/children-gate-secret-105890

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Through The Children's Gate Secret" 11 December 2012. Web.5 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/children-gate-secret-105890>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Through The Children's Gate Secret", 11 December 2012, Accessed.5 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/children-gate-secret-105890
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example